Ever Loved Once

It was just as I was leaving

Throw some change up on the bar

She caught my eye through the swinging door

She was standing out by my car

I said I thought you moved to the city girl

No one never did find the time I’ve been wasting away, at my sister’s place

Just North of the county line

Well I gazed out across the gravel line

To the road that leads to town

Thinking all the ways that I broke your heart

Yeah, thinking how it all went down

And I’m saying it’s a strange thing to see you now

I’ve been running so long on the same old ground

Gonna rattle these chains till the morning light

If I ever loved once, you know

I never loved right by you

So we go up to the turn-pipe

Where the whole world turns to sky

I took her hand, but she drew away

Like a bird getting ready to fly

She said I ain’t so young, and I met someone

He’s a rock that just won’t roll

And I gotta find out, if I only love once

Or does love keep coming to call

Cause it’s a strange thing to see you now

I’ve been running so long on the same old ground

Gonna rattle these chains till the morning light

If I ever loved once, you know

I never loved right by you

There’s a half built house in the potter’s field

All the timbers are turned to gray

There’s an old brown dog living on the porch

I seen them just the other day

Well I laid those planks, and I drove those nails

But it never did satisfy him

And a man must forfeit all he owns

For a glimpse at the reason why

It’s a strange thing to see you now

I’ve been running so long on the same old ground

Gonna rattle these chains till the morning light

If I ever loved once, you know

I never loved right

It’s a strange thing to see you here

If the world don’t mine, yeah you better leave the keys

Gonna rattle these chains till the morning light

If I ever loved once, you know

I never loved right

If the world’s going blind, yeah you better lend an ear